First Annual Earth Day Parade and Parade Puppet Making Workshops

Celebrate Mother Nature in the Regal Heights community with our first Earth Day Parade on Saturday, April 21st!

Giant puppets, marching musicians, and a family Drum Circle will unite us in our promise to protect the Earth.

Please join us right after the community clean up for this wonderful celebratory event!

UPDATE: This year’s annual spring clean up and the first annual parade was a great success!

After several miserable days of snow and slush, the weather suddenly cooperated and turned sunny and pleasant for the annual Regal Heights Cleanup Day on Saturday, April 21. It was also the perfect day to celebrate the RHRA’s first Earth Day Parade.

More than 20 people, including several eager children, come out to help pick up trash and make our public gardens ready for spring. Volunteers noticed that despite the long winter, there was surprisingly little trash in most of the neighbourhood.

Once the last garbage bag was dropped off for pickup, it was time for our first-ever celebration of a healthy environment. A group of adults and kids donned costumes and carried large hand-made puppets for our Earth Day March. The group walked from Oakwood Collegiate through neighbourhood streets to Regal Road School. There they sang songs and committed to making small changes to protect the environment — from avoiding bottled water to repairing old equipment rather than buying new.

A lot of work went on behind the scenes to make these events a reality. The RHRA would like to thank Councillor Cesar Palacio and his staff for their support of the Cleanup Day.

We’re also sending a big thank you to Shannon Hancocks for all her work on the Earth Day Parade. Shannon not only developed and organized the event, but she was also the main talent behind the oversized puppets. We look forward to making this an annual event.

2018 Earth Day Parade!

A small part of the Cleanup Day crew gather at Oakwood Collegiate. Among the special guests were Councillor Cesar Palacio (fifth from the right) and Councillor Joe Mihevc (far left). Late this year, Regal Heights will become part of the ward Joe now represents.

A few of the revellers at the first annual RHRA Earth Day Parade. Shannon Hancocks (fifth from the left) organized the event and was responsible for the puppets. MPP Cristina Martins (fourth from the left) was our special guest.

Photos courtesy of MPP Cristina Martins @cmartinsMPP on Twitter, and John Keating

We are looking for volunteers to make music, supervise the parade route, secure donations of refreshments, etc.

This event is being organized by Shannon Hancocks. Please contact Shannon directly for more information, to ask questions or to get involved. Shannon can be reached at info@differentstages.ca or 647-823-2374.

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EARTH DAY PUPPET BUILDING WORKSHOPS

In preparation for our Earth Day Parade, there will be a series of Trashcrafting Workshops to bring our parade puppets to life! These workshops are open to all ages. All children must be accompanied by an adult. The workshops are free, but we are requesting a small donation to help cover the cost of art supplies and space rental.

Monday, April 2nd 2:00 – 6:00 pm at AMP Studio Cafe 154 Oakwood Ave

Saturday, April 7th (Location and Time TBA*)

Sunday, April 15th 2:00 – 6:00 pm at AMP Studio Cafe 154 Oakwood Ave

*If you have a space you are willing to lend us, please contact Shannon ASAP

To honour Mother Nature, we are trying to build the puppets out of previously-loved items. Do you have the following supplies that you’d be willing to donate?

paint & brushes

duct tape

mop/broom handles, tent poles, bamboo garden stakes

large sturdy pieces of cardboard

light-weight fabric (washed sheets or curtains work)

If so, please contact Shannon or drop them off at AMP Studio Cafe. We are also looking for volunteers to help assist during the Puppet Building Workshops. If you are available, get in touch.

Looking forward to all of the ways we can honour Mother Nature together!

Make a Donation to Regal Heights Today

Links

RHRA is A Member of TANGO

Statement of Acknowledgement

We would like to acknowledge the diversity of the First Peoples of this area and honour the stewardship of the Mississaugas of the New Credit, the Anishinaabe, the Iroquois-Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat. Today, Toronto is still home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and around the world. We are grateful to have the opportunity to work, live and meet on this territory.

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Regal Heights is a leafy tree filled community.

While much of Toronto is flat land, unique geographic features set the Regal Heights neighbourhood apart. The most prominent is the 50 to 75-foot bluff — called Davenport Hill or the Davenport Escarpment — just north of Davenport Road. It marks the shoreline of a prehistoric lake that was formed at the end of the Ice Age, about 12,000 years ago.

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